On the Margin by the Way

On the Margin by the Way

along the Marginal Way seaside walk in Ogunquit, Maine painted plein air on June 25, 2023, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Standing Drawing, Sitting Curves 4 Studies

Standing Drawing,
Sitting Curves Study 1

at our Kittery, Maine Drawing Group on June 12, 2023, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Standing Drawing,
Sitting Curves Study 2

at our Kittery, Maine Drawing Group on June 12, 2023, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Standing Drawing,
Sitting Curves Study 3

at our Kittery, Maine Drawing Group on June 12, 2023, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and graphite on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Standing Drawing,
Sitting Curves Study 4

at our Kittery, Maine Drawing Group on June 12, 2023, 8" x 10" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Attitude Nude Study

Attitude Nude Study

painted at our Kittery, Maine drawing group on June 19, 2023, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$250

June Nudescape

June Nudescape

at our drawing group in Kittery, Maine on June 12, 2023, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Pemaquid Sky Space

Pemaquid Sky Space

by the light keeper's house at Pemaquid Point Light, Bristol, Maine, painted plein air on June 21, 2023, 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Pemaquid Light Hopper View 3

Pemaquid Light
Hopper View Study 3

at Pemaquid Point Light, Bristol, Maine the same place Edward Hopper stood in 1929, painted plein air on June 21, 2023, 14" x 11" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $500, for sale online at my art blog at my art blog
$500

Pemaquid Light Hopper View 2

Pemaquid Light
Hopper View Study 2

at Pemaquid Point Light, Bristol, Maine the same place Edward Hopper stood in 1929, painted plein air on June 21, 2023, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Pemaquid Light Hopper View 1

Pemaquid Point Light
Hopper View Study 1

with a fog bank rolling out in the distance at Pemaquid Point Light, Bristol, Maine the same place Edward Hopper stood in 1929, painted plein air on June 21, 2023, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Goat Island Light Left Right

Goat Island Light
Keepers House Left

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on June 11, 2023, painted June 16 and 22, 2023 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150 - SOLD Art Guild of the Kennebunks July 2023 Exhibition

Goat Island Light Right

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on June 11, 2023, painted June 16 and 22, 2023 5" x 7" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150 - SOLD Art Guild of the Kennebunks July 2023 Exhibition

Goat Island Light Sunset

Goat Island Light Sunset

in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Kennebunkport, Maine on June 11, 2023, painted June 16-17, 2023 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$300

Goat Island Light Study 1

Goat Island Light Study 1

at Cape Porpoise, Kennebunkport, Maine painted plein air on June 10, 2023, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Goat Island Light at Cape Porpoise, Maine, originally built with a sloped cylindrical shape in 1835 was rebuilt with a vertical cylindrical shape in 1859.

Botanical Gardens Pond Adventure

-- Unique Dual Art Essay --

Botanical Gardens Pond Adventure

painted together with Bruce McMillan and Erica Qualey, plein air, June 10, 2023, 15" x 11" (w x h), watercolor, graphite and ink, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper.
NFS

Erica's website HERE and Instagram HERE.

When I arrived at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay Harbor, Maine on Saturday June 10, 2023 to participate in the New England Watercolor Society plein air event, I set up my tripods. But I discovered that I had the lid to my watercolor tray, but the tray with all my watercolors was still two hours away at home in Shapleigh. While chatting with Erica Qualey, a talented artist, she asked me, "Want to paint together?" "Together?"

1
photo: Denna Ball, thanks Deena (website)

Erica is left-handed. I'm right handed. We could paint on the same paper standing side by side.

2

Erica paints with a round (pointed) brush. I paint with a flat brush. Erica sketched with her pencil. I sketched with my ink pen. Different styles were merging.

3
photo: Denna Ball, thanks again Deena (website)

We painted at the same time, both brushes on different parts of the paper, and we painted taking turns; it all flowed.

4

It was a beautiful scene overlooking Slater Forest Pond with spots of color everywhere.

5

And it was truly surprising how well we worked together, having only met on that day. The time went by so fast. We were having a great time painting, so much fun, our minds totally engaged.

6
See a 7 second time lapse video of the painters flurry of activity painting...

7

We both agreed that it was a blast, and a unique way of thinking when painting. Perhaps one might compare it to two pianists improvising while playing on one piano sitting side-by-side. To see two accomplished painters doing this watch the Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic Watercolor Demonstration on You Tube HERE (24:58).

Once again, this time the disaster of having left my watercolor paint behind, my everyday thought proves true: The secret to a successful life is to take what seems to be a disadvantage and turn it into and advantage. (Thanks Erica)

A Painter Somewhere There

A Painter Somewhere There

by the overlook Bridge Pond at the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, painted plein air, painter Jo graciously loaned me a Winsor & Newton field set (4" x 5" with half pans) on June 10, 2023, 10" x 8" (w x h), watercolors and ink on rough extra white watercolor paper, touched up later at home with my full tray watercolor set, framed.
$300

The plein air set-up with Jo's graciously loaned Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor Field Set of 14 half pan assorted colors

Looking Back Overlook Bridge Pond

Looking Back
Overlook Bridge Pond

at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine, painted plein air June 11, 2023, 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

I forgot my watercolor tray, sheesh, a two hour drive, whoa, and another New England Watercolor Society Artist, Jo, graciously loaned me her spare Winsor & Newton tiny 4" x 5" set, and I painted it with this new to me colors and touched them up with my familiar colors later when I got home. Thanks Jo.

Machigonne II, Sunset Too

Machigonne II, Sunset Too

On the Casco Bay Ferry from Portland, Maine to Peaks Island painted plein air on June 1, 2023 7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150

Stroll, Stride, Harborside

Stroll, Stride, Harborside

on Commercial Street, Portland, Maine, with the iconic Custom House in the background on June 1, 2023, painted June 2-4, 2023, 17" x 13" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$700

Artist's Note:
I'm always intrigued with "people watching" walk. The matching gait by people walking together is the same gait, subliminal communication, with their steps matching, either both legs swinging in unison with the same left-right legs, or both legs swinging in the same unison but both outside/inside legs matching their gait, like this strolling pair I painted above, inside forward, outside lift, all in subliminal conversation, her cell phone tucked in her back pocket. -Bruce

CUSTOMary Steps with Hopper

CUSTOMary Steps 

by the Custom House on Commercial Street, Portland, Maine, on the National Register of Historic Places, on June 1, 2023, painted June 4, 2023, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $300, for sale online at my art blog

Edward Hopper
Art Series Conclusion
Portland, Maine

Custom House, Portland
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Watercolor on paper, 20" x 14" (w x h), 1927
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT

Portland's grand, granite Custom House, built after the Great Fire of July 4, 1866, from 1868 to 1872 as a fireproof structure, looks virtually identical today as when Hopper saw it 96 years ago in 1927. It's architecture is distinctive and remains on the US National Register of Historic Places. Though in Maine and painting many coastal scenes, Hopper's familiarity with painting New York city scenes perhaps played into his choice to paint this urban Maine scene of the Custom House and slope of Pearl Street. The building with the chimneys is the Knight Brothers brass foundry located on the corner with Custom House Street. It was formerly The Friendly Inn, run by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. This building is long gone, replaced with a large glass-windowed building.

Edward and his wife Jo stayed in nearby Cape Elizabeth that summer, painting his many works of the coast and Lighthouse at Two Lights.

Cars and Rocks
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Watercolor and graphite pencil on paper,
20" x 14" (w x h), 1927
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

In 1927 the Hoppers purchased a used 1925 Dodge and drove to Maine. Jo didn't consider Edward a very good driver. She eventually got her driver's license despite Edwards attempt to thwart this.

Christmas Card - 1929
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Collage on paper, 6" x 3", 1929
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

After Edward and Jo Hopper spent their 1927 and 1929 summers at Cape Elizabeth, Maine amid the lighthouses and his paintings of them, their 1929 Christmas card was a collage of a lighthouse by Edward.

Strange but True Fact: Of the many Edward Hopper paintings and sketches, there are landscapes, cityscapes, and seascapes, there are men and women, his wife Jo his main model, but hardly none, if any, of children in his art painted when he was an adult.

Sketched when Edward Hopper was a teenager, 13-17 year-old, circa 1895-1899

Study of a Crying Child
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Graphite pencil on paper,
3" x 5" (w x h), circa 1895-1899
Whitney Museum of Fine Art, New York, NY

Still Light at Two Lights 2023

Still Light
at Two Lights 2023

where Edward Hopper painted in
1929 at Dyer Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine by
the now Lobster Shack, plein air on May 26, 2023,
7" x 5" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam,
and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light
fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade
proof ink on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough
100% cotton extra white watercolor paper,
framed, $150, for sale online at my art blog

Edward Hopper Art

Dyer Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Light at Two Lights
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Watercolor and graphite pencil on paper,
20" x 14" (w x h), 1927
Whitney Museum of American Art

The Lighthouse at Two Lights
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Oil on canvas, 43" x 30" (w x h), 1929
The MET, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

This was the second time, 1929, that Edward and Jo Hopper summered in Cape Elizabeth, a pleasurable respite from New York City. He'd painted in this area extensively in the summer of 1927. This was his painting with knowledge, having worked out many of approaches. The perspectives, the light, the shadows, the colors, the clouds in the sky, are now refined in this oil painting. It was this painting that would be chosen to honor 150 years of Maine's statehood in 1970 on a U.S. postage stamp.

Cape Elizabeth, 1970 U.S. postage stamp
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
The year Edward Hopper painted The Lighthouse at Two Lights, U.S. first class postage was two cents. Forty-one years later, three years after Hopper's 1967 passing, in 1970, the year this painting appeared on a U.S. first class stamp, postage was only six cents in 1970. Fifty three years later in 2023 a first class postage stamp is sixty-three cents.

U.S. First Class Postage
1929: 2 cents
1970: 6 cents
2023: 63 cents

This is only one of five U.S. first class stamps that Edward Hopper's paintings were on. The four other paintings that appear on US stamps are:

U.S. First Class Postage Stamp 2020, 55 cents

Sea at Ogunquit
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American
Oil on canvas, 29" x 24" (w x h), 1914
Whitney Museum of Art, New York

Hopper's art not only appeared on the 150th Maine statehood stamp but another painting on the 200th Maine statehood.

U.S. First Class Postage Stamp 2011, 41 cents

The Long Leg
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American
Oil on canvas, 30" x 20" (w x h), 1935
The Huntington Library, Art Museum,
and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California

U.S. First Class Postage Stamp 1998, 32 cents

Automat
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American
Oil on canvas, 35" x 28" (w x h), 1927
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA

U.S. First Class Postage Stamp 1998, 32 cents

Nighthawks
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American
Oil on canvas, 60" x 33" (w x h), 1942
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Only a part of this painting appeared on the stamp, featuring the three central figures. Hopper's paintings have also appeared on foreign stamps including these countries: Åland (Finland), Eritrea, France, Guinea, Maldives, and Togo.

Strange but True Fact:
Of the five US postage stamps featuring Edward Hopper art, two of them painted in Maine, 1914 and 1929, none of them included any of the many paintings from his summers on Maine's iconic Monhegan Island, 1916-1919.

Light at Two Lights Beach in 2023

Light at
Two Lights Beach
in 2023

After Edward Hoppers sketches of this scene from this place, Dyer Point, on May 26, 2023, 14" x 11" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$500

My plein air setup May 26, 2023 at Dyer Point, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, the same place where Edward Hopper sketched and painted in 1927.

Edward Hopper at Two Lights

Edward Hopper
at Two Lights in 1927

The following five views are views in a clockwise view around the Light at Two Lights, starting with this view looking northwest from Dyer Point to the other side looking east-northeast.

Light at Two Lights
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Chalk and charcoal on paper, 16" x 15" (w x h), 1927
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Edward Hopper's wife Jo wrote that Hopper's "lighthouses are self-portraits." Likely, she was referring to his tall singular figure and reserved personality. Perhaps that's also insight into the fact that of the many New England lighthouse paintings of Edward Hopper only one, includes figures, four men wearing hats in Pemaquid Light, watercolor, 1929, Portland Museum of Art.

Lighthouse Hill
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Oil on canvas, 40" x 29" (w x h), 1927
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX

Light at Two Lights
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Watercolor and graphite pencil on paper,
20" x 14" (w x h), 1927

May 26, 2023, view looking northeast up the street to the private residence at Two lights Lighthouse at dusk.

Captain Upton's House
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Oil on canvas, 36" x 28" (w x h), 1927
Private Collection, Steve Martin

Steve Martin:
"I have lived with a few great paintings (Captain Upton's House being the best among them)... I was startled when I eventually focused on the five angled plates of glass in the lighthouse reflecting an afternoon sun. From left to right, one is a dark blue-gray, showing a dimmed sky. The next is a strike of unbroken paint as white as the lighthouse itself - pure glare. The next is an unexpected pane of bright orange, a refracted sun; then a darker orange, and then darker still as the glass wraps around the tower." - Painting on loan, catalogue, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine, 2011